New Mahle Piston and Cylinder Assembly?
 

I just purchased a new Mahle piston and cylinder set for my 2.7. The set came "pre-assembled" in the Mahle box with the rings installed and piston inserted into the cylinder. Do I have to remove the pistons or are they pre-assembled from the factory with the rings in the proper orientation? Should I apply a film of oil in the cylinders to keep the piston from scoring the cylinder when I move the piston into position to connect the wrist pin?

No. Take the Pistons out of thr cylinders and check ring orientation Lube and then reassemble.

The rings go where they want to be. You putting them where you want them just makes you feel better. The orientation changes with startup as I've opened back up after a start up and rings were not where I placed them
Bruce

I just opened my 930 engine after about 3 track days. The compression rings had rotated quite a bit. The oil rings were still where they should be. But I guess over time they will move too. I would still pull them out and orientate. I just opened some out of the box too, and pulled them. The rings had not been oriented, and the oil rings were well out of place.
Alan

When I bought a new set of Mahle 3.3 turbo pistons and cylinders in a sealed box they came the same way with the pistons in the cylinders inside individual plastic bags. There's no way I wouldn't remove the pistons before installing them and when I did the ring gaps were all lined up in a row.... the last place they should be on installation.

Definately remove the pistons and position the ring gaps properly when installing them in the cylinders
Here's the correct ring gap positions from the factory manual.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1455076145.jpg